


Awaited Time

by patriciaselina



Series: Birdcage [3]
Category: Exit Tunes Presents ACTORS (Album), Haikyuu!!, Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball, 月刊少女野崎くん | Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Family, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Crush, Crushes, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Gen, Implied Relationships, Lunch, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-15
Updated: 2015-06-15
Packaged: 2018-04-04 14:10:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4140693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patriciaselina/pseuds/patriciaselina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I must say though, Kashima-san, I’ve been glad to finally have met you.”</p><p>“Oh, really so?”</p><p>“Masayuki talks about you enough as it is, I feel as if I know you already – <em>hey wait that was <strong>my</strong> chashu, Masayuki, you jackass!</em>”</p><p>“Get seconds, then,” Hori says, nonchalantly, chewing on the pilfered pork, as Mike huffs and does just that.</p><p>(Kashima and her cousins bump into Hori and his cousins one day. Part of the <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/3667260?view_full_work=true">Beyond the Birdcage</a> epilogue series.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Awaited Time

**Author's Note:**

> I AM HAVING WAY TOO MUCH FUN WITH THIS PLS STOP ME. This is just one very big excuse for me to write them all meeting up in a ramen- _ya_.
> 
> The POV shifts from person to person here, so more or less, the pattern I have is that I refer to people in first-person when they’re the ones in focus, and everyone else is referred to by how that POV person refers to them in conversation.

_Yuu Kashima is embracing someone_ .

Normally, Masayuki wouldn’t mind, but – oh, who the hell is he kidding, he _always_ minds. At least with the fangirls he can easily explain why he needed to drag Kashima away under the umbrella excuse of practice. Or blocking the hallway. Or taking up space, in general.

But right now isn’t one of those times; _right now_ isn’t Roman Academy where he’s the _senpai_ who could drag Kashima by the necktie and get away with it.

He’s just a guy looking at someone he knows hugging someone else. Masayuki _knows_ he’s not supposed to feel anything about this, has no right to think of her this way, but it’s not like he could just stop his chest when it obviously wants to keep _clenching_.

“What’s the matter with you, Masayuki? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

“You know what, Mike,” Masayuki murmurs, bringing his attention back to his bowl of ramen and away from the scene unfolding outside the window, “Maybe I just did.”

Mike hums in response – he’s never really known how to deal with his older cousin when he gets in these moods, it always went the other way around – and decides to take Masayuki’s cue for it, bringing a spoonful of soup to his mouth. However –

Someone’s knee bumps into the table, jostling the bowls and splattering little drops of soup onto Mike’s chin.

“Taiga, _what the hell_???”

“I – crap, sorry!” Taiga is the youngest of the three and – _unfairly_ enough, according to the two older boys – the tallest. Right now, though, his face is pale as a sheet, _has_ been even before Mike went all S-mode on him, specifically, when they’d begun speaking about _ghosts_ , for some reason. “My bad, um, I apologize!”

“If you say so,” Mike sighs, wiping himself down with the proffered tissues. “It was just a figure of speech anyway. You know our cousin – he’s got a knack for being dramatic.”

“You say that like _I’m_ the only dramatic one in this family.”

“And he returns!” Mike exclaims, a placid smile on his face. Masayuki recognizes it for what it is – the refreshing persona he usually assumes in public. For some reason, seeing Mike in that state is _more_ unsettling than seeing him be his usual snarky self. “Does this have something to do with the fact that we just saw your cute girlfriend hugging another guy?”

“She’s _not_ cute,  not in the slightest,” Masayuki murmurs, without thinking, but then his blood runs cold because _damn, that was the wrong word to correct, wasn’t it_. “ _Mike Enjouji_ , the _hell_ are you grinning at me like that for, do _not_ say anything.”

“Who’s _grinning_?” Mike asks, innocently, but there’s an absolutely terrifyingly _serene_ smile on his face, one that tells Masayuki that the only way to stop his cousin from letting news of Masayuki’s embarrassing crush slip in conversation would be to buy him a pirate’s ransom in Mentako’s March biscuits.

(Or, well, extract blackmail material off Mike’s childhood friend Kai, but Masayuki’s saving that one for emergencies.)

“Y’know what, in all our convos, I think I’d remember if Masayuki told us about him having a girlfriend. Does he really have one? ‘Cuz the only thing I remember is him talking about some actor dude named ‘ _Kashima_ ’ –”

“Right there, in the flesh, Taiga. Dark flippy hair, nice slacks? Also still hugging that guy within an inch of his life.”

“Where...oh...oh! I thought he looked familiar. Dunno about Kashima, but the other one’s Kasamatsu-san, from Kaijou.”

“Another one of your friend’s middle school buddies?”

“Nah, his hair color is too _normal_ for that,” Taiga quips, as if his hair weren’t some unholy mix of reds, itself. “He’s captain of one of our rival schools. Not as freakishly overpowered as those damned Miracles, but he’s pretty fast.” He squints, looks at the scene from a whole different angle. “Huh, Masayuki was right. That Kashima’s a looker, for sure.”

“Of _course_ she is,” Masayuki assents, sounding... _tired_ , for some reason.

“ _Masayuki_ , you could’ve just fixed this and told her you liked her, you _idiot_.”

“ _Mike_ , I could’ve bought you those dumplings you like, but you went and lost your chance, you _brat_.”

“!!! What the – you never said anything about _dumplings_ –!!”

“Taiga,” Masayuki says, while the redhead sitting in between them pouts over his lost meal ticket, “A favor, if you will?”

“Hm?”

“When you grow older,” Not grow _up_ , as far as heights were concerned _Taiga_ was the only one of them with any luck there, “Please don’t be like Mike, I don’t want to go prematurely gray.”

* * *

 

If Tooru Oikawa were here, he would’ve taken pictures at an amazing speed, which was why it was good he wasn’t here, just Hajime Iwaizumi and his goddamned _laughter_.

“ _Damn_ , Yukio, what the hell is up with your face?”

 _Why **yes** this is the face of a man being slowly strangled to death, thanks for asking_ , is what Yukio means to say, only Yuu’s still got him in a tight embrace and hell, using his True Drive to escape his baby cousin’s arms would be terribly rude, huh? So instead Yukio makes some kind of strangled sound – somewhere in between a grumble and a curse – as his cheeks remain a treacherous pink.

“Aww, and here I thought _niichan_ was used to me enough to hug back by now,” Yuu says, pouting brilliantly as she takes mercy on her cousin and pulls back. “Hajime- _niichan_! You’re my only hope.” she says, throwing her arms out and charging forward.

Hajime doesn’t even take a step back, despite the unstoppable force of overexcited teenage girl ramming into him. This was mostly because, _unlike_ Yukio, Hajime had not been caught by surprise and thus had been able to adjust his posture to match. “‘S that how you hug people over there?”

“Mm-hm,” Chiyo- _chan_ and Seo- _sensei_ , at least. Mikoshiba just _wilted_ when Yuu did so much as _hold his hand_ , and Hori- _senpai_...well, Hori- _senpai_ would clock her into next week. _Probably_. Yuu isn’t sure, but she doesn’t wanna push her luck trying.

“...seems like you chose the wrong club to join, told ya you’d be amazing on a sports team. Right, Yukio?”

“Well, if Roman has a rugby team, probably, yeah,” Yukio deadpans, slowly but surely regaining his breath. “Dunno about you, but I’m not allowing that kind of play on my court. Basketball isn’t a contact sport, yanno.” Despite how some dirty asses seemed to thought otherwise – damn, thinking of _that_ brought him back to thinking of _Kise’s leg_ , which brought him to –

“...hey. You still okay there?”

“...uh, it’s...nothing. Yeah, nothing, don’t mind me.”

“Suit yourself, Yukio.” Hajime says, fixing his cousin with a gaze that assures Yukio he isn’t getting out of this that easily.

“ _‘Basketball isn’t a contact sport_ ’...really though?” Yuu muses, a finger to her chin. “Somebody might probably have to tell Seo- _sensei_ that.”

“‘ _Seo-sensei_ ’...?”

“My singing coach! Super amazing at singing, like, my complete opposite. Helps the basketball club sometimes. When they’re playing games and the going gets rough Seo-sensei tends to throw basketballs at everyone.”

 _Sounds like a **monster**_ , Yukio thinks, shuddering, and mentally decides to not hold any practice games with Roman Academy in the immediate future.

Well, maybe until Kise got that leg all healed. Then maybe Yukio would have a chat with this Seo- _sensei_. Ask for pointers in basketball-throwing. How best to use it to rein in damned flighty freshmen.

“You have some very interesting friends over there, Yuu-chan.” Yukio says instead, fiddling with the collar of his shirt. “We were worried when you and Auntie and Uncle suddenly moved, but you’re getting along well with everyone. I’m glad.”

“Speak for yourself,” Hajime drawls, slouching slightly as he puts both his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. “ _I_ wasn’t worried about her at all.”

“And this is coming from Mr. ‘ _omg what if she sleeps past her stop and gets lost_ ’, again...?”

“You shush. That always had been a real danger with her, okay?” Hajime sniffs. Probably remembering the time when she went on the bullet train, fell asleep, and ended up missing her station. _Twice_. “On the social front she can knock _Oikawa_ out of the park on a bad day, so Yuu making friends was the least of my concerns.”

Yuu chuckles. “You don’t give Tooru- _niichan_ enough credit, _niichan_. I don’t think I’ll be able be at his level any time soon.”

 _Mostly because you’re always too damned earnest at everything, and somewhere along the line Shittykawa managed to learn how to pretend to be happy behind my friggin’ back_ , Hajime thinks, but doesn’t say – not when Yuu’s already probably worrying about them _enough_. Nobody lives under a rock, least of all Yuu herself, so Hajime would eat his knee protectors if she hadn’t called them out to meet up today because she wanted to get their minds off of Karasuno and Seirin.

What with how closer in personality she seemed to be to damned Oikawa and, interestingly enough, Kaijou’s new ace, one would think that being around Yuu Kashima on their off-days would make both Hajime and Yukio be at the end of their tether by now, but – it’s the little things like this that endear them to her even more.

Their youngest, their little prince.

So when she goes the extra mile and does a rather outlandish bow as she opens the door for them, with a smile that could charm a truckload of girls and then some – the older boys don’t say anything, only roll their eyes at each other – _princes, I know, right?_ – and sigh.

“Ah!” Yuu says, her bright eyes sparkling so _suddenly_ , honing in on someone who’s facing the window, as if – and this is _weird_ – they were the only ones left in the entire world. “Hori- _senpai_ , is that you?”

The man – _Hori-senpai_ , apparently, so _this_ is the Hori- _senpai_ of legend who Yuu can never _ever_ seem to stop talking about – _flinches_ , and the two redheads sitting beside him whirl around to face them, one looking at Yuu with grave interest, and the other seems to be, to Yukio at least, kinda _familiar_ –

“Kasamatsu-san, it’s nice to see you!” Taiga Kagami says, or at least manages to say, his voice somehow working its way around the hunk of meat he’d somehow shoved in his mouth.

“Kagami. Ditto.” The _chew your food properly, dumbass_ that’s supposed to go after that dies on Yukio’s tongue, which is just as well because he’s pretty sure that’s... _not_ how to deal with other people’s _kouhai_.

“Ah, you know each other already, _niichan_?” Yuu says, leaning against Yukio for support, which – for _some_ reason – makes the aforementioned Hori- _senpai_ ’s shoulders _slump_. Hajime _notices_ this, and thinks, _ah, I see what’s happening here_.

“Kinda have to. He’s Seirin’s ace.” Yukio murmurs, and, as if remembering himself, perks up and turns to the other man, saying, “Oh, right. Kagami, this one here’s Yuu Kashima, my –”

Yuu shushes him and wraps her arms around Hajime and Yukio’s shoulders, laughing. “Let _me_ do the honors, _niichan_. These are my brothers: Kaijou’s Yukio Kasamatsu, third-year, Aoba Jousai’s Hajime Iwaizumi, another third-year; I’m their relative Yuu Kashima, second-year, I’m in the Roman Academy drama club, and Hori- _senpai_ ’s my favorite _senpai_ _ever_!”

“Huh, imagine that,” the other redhead – the one in the headband who’s got three, get that _three_ , emptied bowls in front of him ( _nothing_ against Kagami’s _fifteen_ , but still, what the hell) – says, smiling pleasantly at Yuu before turning back to the still-quiet Hori. “You _always_ said she was handsome, but you never said anything about her being this _fond_ of _you_.”

“Shut _up_ , Mike,” Hori says, or probably seems to be saying – Hajime can’t quite make it out, what with his back still turned to them like that. Also is that a trick of the light or are his cheeks a bit red? Anyway, whatever it is, it’s probably nothing, because Hori clears his throat and looks like the epitome of cool composure when he turns back to them. “It’s nice to meet you, Kasamatsu-san, Iwaizumi-san.”

“ _Pehh_ , _senpai_ , you aren’t thinking it’s nice to see _me_?”

 _More than that – he’s absolutely **elated** ,_ Mike thinks, but doesn’t say – between _that_ and how damned _relieved_ Masayuki had looked when he found out the two brunets were just Kashima’s relatives, Mike thinks he could make Masayuki rethink his earlier comment about the dumplings if he plays his cards right, so he shelves that thought away for later.

“I’m thinking that you should stop hassling your...” _How did she refer to them, again?_ “...brothers around and have them sit down so they can start eating, you brat,” Hori says.

“Already covered!” Yuu says, smiling bright as the sun – somehow she’d managed to have a brightly-flushing young waitress fix up a table for them, obviously fawning in the wake of Yuu’s presence. Yukio knows she’s charming as hell, but seeing her work _that_ quickly never fails to surprise him. She’s exactly the opposite of him, in that regard at least. “In fact we have _way_ too much seats here, if you want you and your companions can sit with us too, _senpai_!”

“Are you sure about that, Kashima-san?” says the other redhead from earlier, still with a polite smile on his face. “I dunno if you’ve noticed, but Taiga’s bowls are going to take up most of the table, for sure.”

“Nah, we’ve got a big table anyway so it’s all good!” Yuu says, still smiling. “So come on, _senpai_ , please, _please_?”

Hajime and Yukio have no clue if she’d known Hori was eating here in the first place, but when Yuu had opened the door to see Hori they knew Yuu’s primary motive had now become ‘ _get senpai to have lunch with me_ ’. Normally being cast aside like this would’ve irked them a bit, she had been _their_ little prince first, after all – but, what the hell, seeing Hori obviously makes her happy. She’s been worrying about them all week already.

Let her have her fun.

“Ah, how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself,” the redhead says, as they’ve all settled down into their seats around the low _kotatsu_ – which he’d walked all the way _around_ to ensure that Yuu and Hori were seated directly in front of each other, on _purpose_. “I’m Masayuki’s cousin, Enjouji. From Tenshou Academy.”

“ _That’s_ not how you introduce yourself, say your _name_ ,” Hori says, looking at Enjouji warily, before turning back to their other companions. “Make that _Mike_ Enjouji, from Tenshou. This guy just _really_ doesn’t like his name.”

“Let’s not talk about that, _please_ ,” Enjouji says, and there’s something bubbling behind the way he draws out his words, but he covers it up with a spoonful of broth and a smile, turning back to Yuu. “I must say though, Kashima-san, I’ve been glad to finally have met you.”

“Oh, really so?”

“Masayuki talks about you enough as it is, I feel as if I know you already – _hey wait that was **my** chashu, Masayuki, you jackass!_ ”

“Get seconds, then,” Hori says, nonchalantly, chewing on the pilfered pork, as Mike huffs and does just that.

Yuu had always talked about Hori with just about more than the required amount of _senpai_ reverence, which makes it hard for Hajime to reconcile that image of him with how Hori is right now – swiping food off his cousin’s bowl for embarrassing him, looking relieved when she found out he and Yukio were Yuu’s relatives. It’s interesting, at the very least, but not at all _surprising_ – it reminds Hajime of the way Oikawa says Kise would talk about Yukio to other people. Seems like the apple never really fell too far from the tree, in that case.

(It’s been less than a year since they met, but _already_ Hajime’s begun thinking of Ryouta Kise as part of their family structure. Yukio would throw a _magnificent_ fit, if he ever finds out about this.)

“I’m surprised to see you here, though, _senpai_.” Yuu says, leaning in forward, her bright green eyes probably burning a hole into Hori’s soul by now, with how intently she’s looking at him. “Do you always go here?”

“Well, seeing how _these two_ eat, this place is the only way they won’t end up eating me out of house and home. It’s rather popular with athletes.” he says, gesturing towards the two redheads he’s sitting between. “Taiga plays basketball, Mike plays soccer.” _And they have hella insatiable appetites_ , but that part no longer needs saying, not when Taiga’s on bowl #20 by now and Mike’s steadily chowing down on his fourth.

“Yukio- _niichan_ plays basketball too, he’s nationally-ranked in it, is also captain of his team!”

“ _Was_ captain, Yuu-chan...” Yukio murmurs, sounding sadder than he’s supposed to.

“ _Peh_ , you’ll always be Kaijou’s captain to me, so I’m not correcting myself,” Yuu says, nonchalantly, as if those words weren’t some kind of balm to her cousin’s soul. “And Hajime- _niichan_ plays volleyball, he’s an _amazing_ ace spiker.”

“Yuu,” Hajime says, chuckling slightly, “You’re having way too much fun buttering me up.”

“ _You_ don’t start that with me, either. You’re _great_ and Tooru- _niichan_ _won’t shut **up**_ about how he feels invincible when you’re around. Now, moving on.” Yuu says, fixing both her cousins with Looks that clearly say _if you both doubt yourselves again, I’m gonna embarrass you to hell and back with compliments, just you watch_ before turning back to her _senpai_.

“Looks like we’re the only non-athletes here, huh, _senpai_? We better up our game. Like, join the Olympics or something. For _your_ case...” She hums, blinking innocently, like a cute little doe, or something as adorable. “...maybe we should look for a sport that wouldn’t depend too much on your height...?”

“If hauling your lazy ass places would become a damned Olympic sport, then _maybe_ I’d be able to rank internationally,” Masayuki blurts out, without thinking, and then realizes – um, crap, that’s _probably_ not the best thing to say when Kashima’s currently flanked with two _very_ good, _very_ muscular athletes, both at the peak of their physiques and looking at Masayuki with serious eyes. “Uh.” _Shit._

“Nah, I think I’d seen that coming,” Iwaizumi says, smirking slightly. “I’d been wondering how Yuu-chan’s highly esteemed _senpai_ was keeping her in line. Should’ve thought that was the only way to get her to _listen_ – seriously though, Yuu-chan, it’s still _that_ , after all these years?”

“You look too amused at that, Hajime- _niichan_.”

“I’m just thinking back to the time when I had to drag both you and Oikawa back home because you wanted to skip dinner and wait for UFOs on the roof. You were kicking and screaming that E.T. wouldn’t ever get home if you didn’t help him. It was _priceless_.”

“Pff – Kashima? _Aliens?_ Really?”

“Don’t laugh as if _you’re_ any better, Masayuki,” Enjouji says, smiling at his cousin. “Remember the time you kept scaring Taiga _shitless_ by doing the flashlight-under-the-chin trick, ‘cuz he’d bumped into and flattened the doll’s house you were making?”

“ _Wait_ ,” Taiga blurts out, a bunch of noodles still nestled somewhere halfway in his mouth, “That was _you_ , Masayuki???”

“And you _never noticed???_ ” Masayuki blurts out in return, eyes wide and eyebrows furrowed. Look, he _knows_ that Taiga’s never been the brightest light bulb in the batch, but... _seriously?_

“ _Clearly,_ ” Mike says, smiling pleasantly at the three in front of them, lifting a spoon daintily up to his mouth (as if he wasn’t calling for bowl #5 by now), “I am surrounded by _idiots_.”

“Come to think of it,” Taiga says, wiping _ramen_ broth from his chin, “There _was_ this time when I saw Mike clinging onto some tall guy and screaming ‘ _earthworm_ ’ –”

Mike flushes red, grunts, and flings his hand across the table to intercept the _chashu_ before it goes into Taiga’s mouth, taking it for himself.

“ _The hell,_ Mike??”

“Aw, like one out of _twenty_ would’ve made a difference,” Mike says, popping the slice of pork in his mouth. “And, ‘sides, for once in our lives, it was _Masayuki_ who started this.”

“I did _not_ –” Masayuki starts, almost on autopilot – but the rest of that sentence dies on his tongue because, _oh yeah, he’s right, I was the one who started it this time._ Usually Mike and Taiga would end up doing an endless back-and-forth exchange of pilfering meat off the other’s bowl, and Masayuki would only be able to stop them by swiping meat off _both_ their bowls and smacking them upside their stubborn heads (despite this damnable height, he _is_ still the eldest, after all). He obviously can’t do that now.

And this was all because he didn’t wanna see the goddamned smug look that Kashima’s face would inevitably have when Mike would keep on going about how much Masayuki would namedrop her in daily life.

(Around seventy percent of the time, apparently, but then again, maybe they were just exaggerating. Between one hopeless mathematical case and one magnificent troll, this wouldn’t be much of a surprise.)

“Are you guys _always_ like this?” Kashima asks, innocent as can be, but there’s something about the way her green eyes _flash_ with something unreadable that reminds Masayuki of the time when she’d asked him about skirts and ended up leaving hers in his locker. Whatever it is, it’s making Masayuki’s familiar headache stir up again.

“No, not really,” Mike says, casual as can be, while he and Taiga keep on swiping food off each other’s bowls, barely a safe distance away from Masayuki. Mike Enjouji, who doesn’t usually mix well with others, is doing a _pretty remarkable job_ of chatting up Kashima. Then again, he’d always thought it fun to orchestrate Masayuki’s suffering. “Normally Masayuki wouldn’t play along with us. But this time, he was _panicking_ ‘cuz I was gonna tell you how he feels about y –”

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Masayuki doesn’t even know what his heart is skipping about or what his cheeks are flushing for, but what he _does_ know is that _Mike has to be stopped_. So Masayuki, quicker than he’s ever been in his entire life, takes one _gyoza_ off his own plate, and stuffs it into Mike’s open mouth, right in the middle of him saying ‘ _you_ ’.

“Haha, _good one_ , Masayuki,” Taiga beams, and holds out his fist, which Masayuki taps against his own, gently.

“For some reason, though, I feel like I’ve lost,” Masayuki grumbles, looking at Mike, who’s looking over the moon, with the dumpling he’d been hassling Masayuki for earlier finally in his hands – to be more specific, in his mouth.

“We can’t _always_ win, _senpai_ ,” Kashima says, quietly, from her side of the table. The way she says this is quieter than her usual and it shocks Masayuki enough to make him turn to her and look, mouth gaping slightly in surprise – only – “But here you go anyway!”

Did that – did that just happen?

Did Yuu Kashima, Prince of Roman, Masayuki’s most impertinent headache, just freaking _put a dumpling into his mouth?_ Using _her own_ chopsticks?

“ _Yuu-chan_ ,” Yukio berates, “You could’ve just given him your food _properly_ , y’know.”

“I _do_ know. This way looked more fun!” Yuu says, grinning happily. “Why don’t _we_ do that, anyway?”

 _Because we’re not **twelve**_ , Yukio thinks, but doesn’t say, out of respect for Yuu’s beloved _senpai_ and his ever-hungry brethren. “ _Please_ don’t say that’s gonna start being a thing with you.”

“It’s because your brother can’t afford being seeing doing that – he has an image to maintain. As Kaijou’s _scary_ captain.” Hajime quips, not even flinching when Yukio _carefully_ reaches over Yuu to punch him in the arm. Right now Hajime’s got a bunch of tissues in his hand and is reaching for Yuu’s chin, honing in on the soup she’d somehow managed to get on herself, “Tsch, stop moving _around_ so much.”

Kashima preens and does just _that_ , all the while smiling so gorgeously it makes Masayuki’s heart hurt. He’s dimly aware of the fact that Japan allows cousins to get _married_ , but he has no clue why the hell that thought chooses to present in his mind exactly _right now_ , or why it makes his chest hurt even _more_.

“Ah, that’s right,” Yukio says, idly, “Now that I’ve retired from club, I think I could take you up on that offer you were hounding me about for a while now, Yuu-chan.”

“What,” Yuu says, her eyes brightening even _further_ – “Yukio- _niichan_ , you’re finally gonna go on a _goukon_ with me?”

“Wha – that – _no!_ ” Yukio most definitely does _not_ do something as crass as _splutter_. No matter how much Hajime would insist otherwise, later. “That is the most _absurd_ – that was _not_ what I was talking about!”

Taiga remembers Alex pouting about how Kaijou’s captain was a ‘ _cutie_ ’ (what the hell) who ‘ _didn’t even wanna greet me properly, can you believe that, Tiger??_ ’ (He could believe that, by the way. The way Alex ‘greeted’ people was an acquired taste.) He hadn’t believed it at the time, but seeing the way Kasamatsu was acting right now –

The only thing that comes to mind is that he feels sorry for the guy, if ever that Kise catches wind of this.

“Aw, too bad,” Yuu says, pouting. “I have some princesses who think you’re really attractive, _niichan_. Like, the ones who buy sports mags to fawn over you, and stuff. They wouldn’t have complained if I brought you with me. Are you sure you don’t want to go?”

“I – _you_ – I am _perfectly sure_ that that’s not what I was going for with this,” Yukio blurts out, his cheeks a faint pink.

“I _think_ what he’s trying to say is that we’re interested in finally going to one of your plays, Yuu,” Hajime says, taking pity on his cousin and finally deciding to help him. “So it’s just as well that we bumped into your club president, ‘cuz we were gonna ask how to get tickets. We’re willing to pay for ‘em, Hori-san.”

“There’s no need to do that. And please just call me ‘Hori’, we’re nearly the same age, after all.” _Even though this damned height keeps on making it so non-obvious_. “Main characters have tickets reserved for family members. It was actually surprising that Kashima never really used hers...”

“Ah, that’s ‘cuz Uncle and Auntie are always so busy with work,” Kasamatsu says, handing more tissues to Iwaizumi, who keeps wiping soup off Kashima’s chin. (“Stop that, prince. Or your princess just might choose someone who eats _more carefully_.”) If Masayuki weren’t so focused on the idea of _cousins getting married someday_ , he would’ve noticed the way the two men hovered around Kashima like goddamned _helicopter parents_. “ _And_ her little sister is embarrassed of her.”

“I do _not_ embarrass her,” Kashima says, leaning slightly towards Iwaizumi, while Masayuki reels at this new information. Kashima, someone’s _big sister_? He’d had her so entrenched in his mind as someone who has to be looked after, that he finds it hard to reconcile _that_ with someone who has a _younger_ sibling, just like how Masayuki has Takayuki.

“There was the time when she wore her middle school uniform for the first time; you dropped to your knees and loudly proclaimed that she was the most beautiful princess you’d ever seen. In the middle of the sidewalk. I remember Yukio telling me that she said wished the earth would swallow her up just then.”

“But she _was_ beautiful! The blazer set itself against her dark hair so nicely, and the ribbon was a nice fit with her eyes – what should I have done, _not_ told her?”

“Tell her _quietly_ ,” Yukio says. “You have no indoor voice, prince.”

“I don’t think she should be hearing that from _you_ , Yukio.”

“Please, like _you_ don’t know how it feels to be all fired up in court.”

Yuu perks up and says, “You guys _really_ should meet Seo- _sensei_!”

Hajime blinks, once, twice, trying to remember who this Seo- _sensei_ was, but Yukio beats him to it, his face paling as he says “ _No_.” _No, Yuu-chan, I do **not** have a death wish. Yet._

“Aw, but you all like sports! And are all loud about it too! Why _not_?”

“If anything, I think Kasamatsu-san would be better off seeing _Wakamatsu_ , Kashima...” Masayuki trails off. Nozaki might’ve thought that Seo was total _ikemen_ fodder, and Masayuki might’ve thought the same himself, but – well, he’s _seen_ her play. And he’s pretty sure Kashima’s basketball club captain brother would not approve of it. “Just like how Iwaizumi-san would be better off seeing the volleyball club. Seo isn’t _really_ part of the basketball club, remember?”

“Tsch, that’s no fun, Hori- _chan_ - _senpai_ ,” Kashima pouts again, looking so much like the grumpy cat in Mikoshiba’s shared videos that Masayuki wants to reach over her side of the table and pat her on the head, if only that wouldn’t be – so awkward. Yup. _Very_ awkward. _Totally_ awkward. _Goddamnit Masayuki stop thinking about how soft her hair probably is, stop that, **no**._ “But – you’re seriously gonna go to my next play, Yukio- _niichan_ , really?”

“Yeah, as long as I don’t have classes that day, why not?” Kasamatsu says, grinning. “What about you, Hajime?”

“I could go, if I don’t have class that day, too.” Iwaizumi says, and Kashima’s smile goes even _brighter_ , near-incandescent, and if Masayuki thinks she was stunning before he’s completely out of words to describe how he thinks of her now, with her all _smiling_ like that. “ _Oikawa_ might tag along, though, so just a heads up.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing, _niichan_.”

“I’m gonna have to keep hauling his annoying ass away so he doesn’t distract you. And _that’s_ a bad thing.”

“This Oikawa-san’s another relative of yours, Kashima? You have three tickets already anyway, so it’s fine.”

“He’s Hajime- _niichan_ ’s childhood friend, so he’s like a brother to me, too.” Kashima says, and – now that he thinks of it, Masayuki thinks he remembers their names from sports magazines. Kaijou’s Kasamatsu, Aoba Jousai’s Oikawa and Iwaizumi. Then again, it shouldn’t be so surprising that people sharing Kashima’s blood would be anything less than spectacular.

Then again, Masayuki _was_ related to Seirin’s ace Taiga Kagami, who’d also been appearing in sports magazines as of late. Masayuki thinks he should pay more attention to these kinds of things, but – lately, he’s been finding it very hard to pay attention to things that don’t involve Yuu Kashima.

...okay, so where the hell are these thoughts of yours coming from, Masayuki Hori??

“Our next play’s scheduled for the week after the next. It’s another fairytale, with Kashima as the prince, of course.” Masayuki says, shrugging off _that_ thought, and reaching for his phone, instead. “I can send you a mail when we come up with the details, if you wish.”

“Hm. That’s fine with me, then.” Kasamatsu says, handing over his phone so he and Masayuki could trade mail addresses.

(Somewhere off to the side, a frown forms on Yuu’s immaculate face, and Hajime tries _very hard_ not to end up _laughing_.)

* * *

 

Later that afternoon:

“Hori seems like a nice guy, Yuu-chan. I’m pleased.”

“Yeah, you are.” Yuu mumbles, quietly, looking down at the ground as if it personally offended her.

“Hey – what are you _frowning_ about?” _I just said I thought he was a nice guy! Isn’t this supposed to be the time when you own up to liking him?_

“Yukio, here’s the thing,” Hajime stage-whispers, a glint of mischief in his eye, kind of like when he’d talked about the time when he put a plastic bug in Oikawa’s locker. “Yuu’s probably thinking you’re planning on stealing Hori away from her.”

Yukio’s barely got “What the _hell_ –” out of his mouth before Yuu comes to her senses and says “ _Niichan_ ’s a princess like _senpai_ , too! How can I protect them if they _both_ leave me?”

 _What on earth is up with that way of thinking,_ Yukio thinks, while elbowing Hajime for laughing at his expense. “What the hell is this about me _leaving_ you? For what? For _Hori_?”

Yuu pouts, and doesn’t say anything more.

“Listen to me, Yuu-chan. First of all, Hori’s not exactly my type.”

“He _really_ isn’t. Your brother tends to like them tall, blond, _obnoxiously happy_ –”

“You wanna _go_ , Hajime?”

Hajime smirks, Yukio seethes, and when the two of them end up chasing each other across the sports shop like a couple of misbehaving children, (Yuu thinks, dimly, that Tooru- _niichan_ and Kise-kun would probably have a field day with this) Yuu finally ends up laughing, which leaves the two of them to sigh in relief and bundle her up in hair ruffles and one-armed embraces.

The thing is, though, Yukio ends up forgetting the second half of what he was going to say.

 _And second of all, it’s not like there would be anyone Hori would ever have his eyes on, other than you, Yuu-chan_.

**Author's Note:**

> This goes immediately after [part IX](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3667260/chapters/9203410) of _Beyond the Birdcage_ , but it was long enough for me to post on its own, so here we go!
> 
> I want to work on this more, I really wanna! Maybe you’d hear more from me on this end, hopefully?
> 
> If anything, that placeholder title would make sense if and only if I end up writing part 2 of this. I don’t wanna talk about why I chose it (even if it might be oh-so terribly obvious by now, my foreshadowing is the most obvious thing ever), so for now I’ll just say where it came from – it’s one of the two duets Kasamatsu sings with Kise, for KnB duet series vol.11.
> 
> Thanks for reading this far, and I hope you liked it!


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